Prophylactic and curative effect of ginseng roots as hypoglycemic agent in albino rats

The present study aimed to investigate the prophylactic and curative effect of ginseng roots on blood glucose level and evaluate the changes in the antioxidant activity in normal and diabetic rats. Forty eight albino rats weighing 130 +/- 10 g were used in two main experiments i.e. prophylactic and curative. Streptozotocin [STZ] was used to induce hyperglycemia. Korean ginseng roots were purchased from the Egyptian market. Some biochemical and antioxidant parameters were assessed. The obtained results indicated that ginseng roots possessed significant antidiabetic effects in both experiments. The levels of blood sugar, total lipids, total cholesterol, triglycerides, rnalondialdehyde [MDA] and catalase were decreased while the levels of HDL-cholesterol and ascorbic acid were increased in the diabetic rats after treatment of ginseng roots. On the other hand, the level of reduced glutathjone [GSH] did not significantly change

Study of cryoglobulinemia in patients with chronic hepatitis C viral infection

Hepatitis C virus [HCV] is involved in an increasing number of non hepatic diseases. Mixed cryoglobulinemia [MC] is considered a lymphoproliferative disorder. It is characterized by arthralgia, generalized weakness, purpura and organ involvement such as membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, peripheral neuropathy, vasculitis and chronic liver diseases. Cryoglobulinemia is quite frequent in chronic HCV infection and especially when appropriate techniques of cryoglobulin detection are applied. Its frequency is usually higher in older male cirrhotic patients and who have a longer duration of HCV infection. The term essential mixed cryoglobulinemia [EMC] has been used to describe the syndrome with no evidence of underlying disease. Chronic HCV infection is the main cause [90%] of EMC type II and III with or without clinical or biochemical evidence of liver damage. In addition, HCV was described as a lymphotropic virus and may play a direct role in the development of low grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma which is usually associated with EMC. Aiming to estimate cryoglobulins in patients with CHC viral infection to identify the possible correlation between cryoglobulinemia and CHC viral infection, we conducted this study on 40 patients with CHC viral infection. Another group of 10 normal persons was considered a control group. Among our patients, there were 32.5% positive patients for cryoglobulinemia, those patients had increased incidence of cirrhosis and low C4. We suggested that EMC associated with HCV infection should no longer be referred to as essential but rather as hepatitis C associated with MC. In addition, every patient with chronic HCV infection may have MC, so that serum cryoglobulins and complement components must be evaluated repeatedly during the course of chronic HCV infection for avoiding their complications